New papers show list of UK 106 cities, towns and military bases thought to be “probable nuclear targets” during Cold War\n

The Welsh cities of Cardiff and Swansea plus government buildings in Brecon and RAF sites in Anglesey and Pembrokeshire were likely targets of nuclear attack by the Soviet Union in the 1970’s according to newly emerged documents.

UK Government papers made public by the National Archives show a list of 106 cities, towns and military bases thought to be “probable nuclear targets” over 40-years-ago during the cold war.

The list was agreed by military commanders, the intelligence services and the Cabinet Office under Conservative prime minister Edward Heath.

Nuclear historian Aberystwyth University, Kristan Stoddart, said Britain was a priority target for the Soviet Union in the 1970s because it was the only state in western Europe that was part of Nato’s military structure.

Mr Stoddart said: “For a country the size of Britain there was no civil defence against large-scale nuclear attack – anything else was a myth. “Whitehall knew this and most of the population knew it.”

The list of “probable nuclear targets in the United Kingdom” was approved by the Cabinet Office and circulated to defence chiefs marked “top secret.”

In the papers, dated May 2, 1972 Air Commodore Brian Stanbridge wrote: “It is not a comprehensive list of all targets likely to be attacked in the event of general war.

The list includes 38 towns, cities and centres of government, 37 UK and US air bases, 25 control, communications and radar facilities and six naval sites.

“They are unlikely to be inhibited by the question of overkill,” it said.

Estimates of Soviet nuclear strikes used “similar planning assumptions to those which we ourselves might use,” the annex stated.

“Thus, it is likely that the enemy would aim to achieve a minimum of 50% damage expectancy with a 90% or more assurance factor.”

In another high-profile memo Home Office scientific advisers “find it difficult to see why an enemy would wish to deliver a three-megaton attack on Swansea when, in their view, one megaton on each target would be sufficient to cause almost complete destruction of those cities.”

Other memos from 1971 said that the target list was drawn up for military planning purposes and to help “contingency planning particularly in the field of home defence”. Home defence meant protect and survive measures such as shelters to help civilians under nuclear attack.

The newly surfaced documents were stumbled across by former nuclear weapons design engineer Brian Burnell.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper Mr Burnell said the aim of the list was to ensure that UK based nuclear bombers survived to launch a counter-attack against the Soviet Union.

Mr Burnell added: “I’m baffled by the omission of targets like power plants, or other major infrastructure.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: “These are historical records and like many other documents released every year by the National Archives have little or no relevance to the present day.”

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.